Jibo

After three long years, the Jibo social robot is now available for the public to buy for $899. Starting in September 2017, Boston-based Jibo has shipped more than 2,500 units to its 2014 Indiegogo backers. The robots purchased by the public will start shipping on November 7, 2017.

Jibo is similar to other personal assistants in that it can tell you the weather, look up recipes, tell you jokes and answer trivia. But what sets Jibo apart from the competition is its personality and ability to engage with its people. Jibo wants to be your companion, more than anything. And it’s obvious the Jibo team has and will continue to invest a ton of development time into the robots’ personality.

Jibo sits on a three-axis motor that enables it to turn towards the person it’s engaging with. Jibo is also a lot cuter than an Amazon Echo or Google Home and, thanks to face and voice recognition, Jibo can learn and recognize up to 15 people.

There are Jibo knockoffs popping up in China, but the real Jibo will launch in China—and the U.S.—in 2017, the company said at CES. Jibo has partnered with Ling Technology, a subsidiary of NetPosa Technologies that develops consumer AI technologies, to bring the social robot to China. NetPosa is a Jibo investor.

Jibo won’t ship to customers in 2016, after all. Users on Jibo’s Facebook and Reddit pages have shared a letter they were sent from Jibo CEO Steve Chambers that says the company’s second in-home beta tests “shed light on some important technical challenges we must overcome.”

Jibo, the Boston-based startup that has delayed shipment of its social robot multiple times, just raised another $13.1 million from investors. According to a Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jibo is looking to raise a total of $28 million.

“I don’t have enough time to exercise.” It’s an excuse most of us, including myself, have used too many times. And, frankly, it’s a lame excuse that’s not viable anymore with all the quick workouts that have been designed for those of us who don’t have the time.

History may remember the decade between 2007 and 2017 as a brief and peculiar period when people barely spoke to their phones. Apple launched the iPhone in June 2007, catapulting the smartphone – and its ubiquitous touchscreen – into the ascendancy.

Jibo Inc. announces that its adding veteran researcher Michael I. Jordan to its advisory board. Jordan has been ranked as the most influential computer science researcher by the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and carries the superlative of “the Michael Jordan of machine learning,” both literally and figuratively.